The IMF’s April 2025 Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa presents a clear warning: regional growth is slowing, debt pressures are mounting, and donor assistance is declining. Yet the report outlines critical opportunities particularly in domestic revenue mobilization, structural reform, and private sector activation that can shape a more resilient …
This edition of the Macro Poverty Outlooks periodical contains country-by-country forecasts and overviews for GDP, fiscal, debt and poverty indicators for the developing countries of the Middle East and North Africa region. Macroeconomic indicators such as population, gross domestic product and gross domestic product per capita, and where available, other …
Municipal Solid Waste Cost Calculation Technical Guidelines discusses good practices for calculating investment and operating costs in the solid waste management sector illustrated through notional cost calculations for waste management functions and a combined waste management system. The report emphasizes the need to accurately determine the full costs of municipal …
Are current fiscal approaches and policies aligned with national strategies, including ensuring that mineral-rich developing countries collect an appropriate share of the financial benefits from critical minerals value chains? If not, what needs to change? This report seeks to answer these fundamental questions about financial benefit sharing in relation to …
This report aims to raise awareness of the challenges and opportunities associated with the use of fresh water and the reuse of water produced in oil and gas operations, with the view to support evidence-based policy making and regulation. To that end, the report proposes a list of operational and …
As the transition to a low-carbon economy gathers pace across emerging economies and new technologies and untapped demographic segments come to the fore, Blended Finance offers a solution that can help alleviate the technological and market risks allowing such projects to access affordable capital, a new joint report by the …
What is the impact of climate change on labor? Reviewing the evidence, this paper finds five areas of potential impact. Climate change may have an immediate effect on labor demand, labor supply and time allocation, on-the-job productivity, and income and vulnerability among the self-employed. In the medium term, climate change …
Global foreign direct investment (FDI) flows in 2023, at an estimated $1.37 trillion, showed a marginal increase (+3%) over 2022, defying expectations as recession fears early in the year receded and financial markets performed well. However, economic uncertainty and higher interest rates did affect global investment. The headline increase was …
This paper briefly synthesizes recent research illustrating how smartphones, sometimes in conjunction with other sensors, present a nexus point method for citizen scientists to engage with and use sophisticated modern technology for water quality monitoring. This paper also presents a brief, non-exhaustive research synthesis of some examples of current technological …
The report addresses the challenges of delivering adaptation financing for developing countries, both from the supply and demand side. While the existing narrative around improving adaptation finance in developing countries focuses on supply side issues, this paper argues that addressing demand side challenges is equally necessary. On the supply side, …
The energy transition will require a major scale-up in the deployment of renewable energy with both public and private finance playing critical roles. Aligning with the Paris Agreement targets needs tripling of total renewable energy capacity in Emerging Markets and Developing Countries (EMDC) by 2030, significantly augmenting financing flows towards …
Extensive transformations of urban areas in rapidly urbanizing developing countries can be a powerful vehicle for advancing low-carbon urban growth that supports global decarbonization goals. The scale of urban growth in these countries underscores the need to pursue low-carbon urbanization pathways and avoid carbon-intensive development. The report highlights the urgency …
This report, jointly prepared by Climate Outreach and the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Global Network, provides an introduction to public engagement on climate change adaptation; its primary intended audience is decision-makers involved in leading NAP processes in developing countries. Countries will not achieve their climate ambitions without bringing citizens into …
he path to low-carbon urban transport looks fundamentally different in developed and developing countries. Most cities in developing countries have not yet developed their land use and transportation infrastructure around cars, leaving a window of opportunity to chart a new path to low-carbon, efficient and inclusive urban transport. While developed …
How can Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships manage plastic pollution in developing countries? See what learnt from Indonesia, Ghana, and Vietnam about National Plastic Action Partnerships (NPAP) in this report. Describe the challenges of plastic pollution and the need for Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships (MSP) and describe an emerging MSP process called Global Plastic Action …
This report reviews and examines the use of risk mitigation and transfer (RMT) instruments in private utility-scale renewable energy investment. The trillions of dollars needed to achieve global climate goals are more than an abstract number. They need to be channeled through viable projects that result in desirable outcomes, such …
In countries of the Global South, 2.4 billion people cook with solid fuels, resulting in 3.2 million premature deaths and economic losses of US$2.4 trillion annually. Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is considered to be a scalable transition cooking solution until renewable options become market-ready. Counter-intuitively, the transition from solid fuels …
Transport is an imperative for economic and social development. It is the physical, social, and economic network that connects people to opportunities, goods to markets, and communities to prosperity. Improving the quality of transport infrastructure and services can help emerging economies address poverty and reduce inequality. Emerging economies with less …
Institutional constraints and weak capacity often hamper the ability of local governments in developing countries to steer urbanization. As a result, there are not enough cities to accommodate an unabated rural-urban migration and many of those that exist are messy, sprawling, and disconnected. The flipside is the emergence of entire …
The ongoing global energy crisis has highlighted countries’ vulnerabilities to energy shocks due to an overdependence on fossil fuels. Clean energy sources are an ideal option for states looking to hedge against the risks associated with fossil fuels. Moreover, recent technological advances and falling costs have placed renewables at the …
This paper, published by the T20 India Task Force, examines the challenges in mobilising private capital for climate action and proposes solutions to unlock flows at scale. Developing countries need USD one trillion per year in external finance for climate action by 2030. However, both real and perceived risks impede …
